Bourbon Alfort Chocolate Biscuits

こんばんは！

I can't seem to escape people taking vacations and me having to do 50+ hour work weeks. Rest assured I haven't forgotten about my Japanese treats.

I was able to sneak a trip into NYC last weekend and stopped by Sunshine Market near Bryant Park. I was slightly disappointed my melon pan but it is always a pleasure to see different varieties of snacks.I picked this Bourbon cookie up for $1.99. I really enjoy LU's Le Petit Ecolier chocolate biscuits and so I thought I'd give these a go. 

The box resembles a bar of chocolate more than biscuits! I appreciate the packaging as it keeps the cookies from breaking. The nautical theme is pretty awesome with the compass and ship emblem pressed into the chocolate. Apparently, it it Bourbon's trademark.

 

My first impression was that there were not too many biscuits in the package. While this is true if I compare it to a box of actual Le Petit Ecolier or an American box of cookies, I surprisingly don't snack often and so it suits me. The ship is actually very impressive!

Together, the treat is fairly tastey thought less so than my beloved Le Petit Ecolier. The dark chocolate is fair quality and enjoyable. The biscuit, when tasted seperately, was flavorless. Since it is a brown color (more grey in real life!) I assumed it had a slight hint of cocoa but this was not the case.

This  treat was by no means terrible but I don't think I would find myself purchasing it again.

Tohato Caramel Corn Vanilla Ice

こんばんは！

Tohato Caramel Corn is a classic Japanese treat. It's the sort of treat you see pop up in anime and comics on occasion and can be found in most Asian/Japanese food stores. I've had the original flavor in the past and it's very good but because the bag tends to be pricey, I find I don't typically pick them up. In the spirit of winter, when I saw this new specialty flavor I went for it. I purchased this at Asian Food Market for $2.99.

The Tohato bags are always very cute with the face on them! I like how the colors match the winter/vanilla feel they are going for. The ice cream even has vanilla bean pieces in it!

 

I apologize for the quality of this picture...I wanted to show you all the Tohato bag on the back sitting in a lounge chair in a tropical locale and consuming vanilla ice cream. It's adorably nonsensical.

 

The texture is very similar to Union's Choco Corn snack and sort of like a softer cheese doodle. The flavor really does taste like vanilla ice cream! It's sweet and almost creamy. This snack was very good but since I prefer caramel and chocolate to vanilla, I would opt for another flavor next time.

Check out Japanese Snack Attack's Facebook page to keep up with all the action!

Morinaga Caramel Choco Ball

こんにちは！

Today's fun treat is a Morinaga product called Choco Ball. I've seen this snack plenty of times but for some odd reason I kept thinking there was only a banana flavored variety and never really took the time to check out the package. This was purchased at Mitsuwa for $1.49.

I'll be honest, I needed another less expensive treat and so threw this in my basket with the thought of finally giving this common snack a shot. When I noticed it was caramel later at home I was pleasantly surprised! The box is very cute and colorful with the bird mascot and a cross section of the Choco Ball itself.

 

There is some sort of entreaty on the back asking which we would choose: (Choco Ball or Morinaga?) World or Universe. I don't really understand what the point of this is...

 

I love how the top of the box opens! It's very easy to grab just a few Choco Balls and save the rest for later. With M&Ms, I'd have to worry about the rest falling out of the bag if I didn't finish them. It's also themed like the beak of the mascot- adorable!

 

The Choco Balls themselves were just OK. The caramel was much chewier than I had hoped for- sort of like a Tootsie Roll texture. It definitely got stuck in my teeth and the flavor was not exciting enough to make me want to deal with that more than once. I would likely try the other varieties- plain chocolate or peanut, but caramel is a no go.

Check out Japanese Snack Attack's Facebook page to keep up with all the action!

Glico Balance On Choco Sand

I want to thank you all for your patience. After 12 days I finally got power back in my apartment. My neighborhood was not close to the Jersey shore but I have never seen such extensive widespread damage in my life. My heart goes out to all of those who lost homes and fared worse than I! In my real world job I have been working 16 hour days due to those displaced by the storm and while it's been the most challenging 2 weeks of my life, I am very very thankful that I was lucky with only power outages. Now onto some snacks!

This snack was documented and consumed before the storm. I purchased this during my last trip to Mitsuwa for a reasonable $.89. I have had great experiences with Glico's products in the past (The soft caramel was delicious!) so I was willing to look past the plain packaging.

Glico makes Pocky, but their other products seems to strive for a healthy angle. The caramels contained oyster extract while these "sands" (No I don't know why they are called "sands" and not "sandoicchi", which is how you would say sandwich in Japanese) are named Balance On.

I assumed there would be a few sandwiches laying horizontally but to my surprise there were 6 little vertical cookies in the package. This was a great size to split with my husband or to break into 2 snack servings. The sandwiches look like they are made of whole wheat.

They were delicious! The cookie was slightly sweet and the chocolate creme flavorful. I really enjoyed these. They were a good size and priced well. I would not hesitate to throw a few of these in my basket during my next trip.

Pringles Sweet Tomato

 こんばんは！

I hate Pringles. I know this is sacrilege to some but I will take a classic fried sliced potato over a weird congealed baked mashed potato substitute any day. Yet, I am not so jaded as to not try an interesting Japanese flavor of said baked snack. I picked up this "sweet tomato" variety at Mitsuwa for $1.99 in order to broaden my horizons and not succumb to my predispositions.

The packaging is the same as any small American Pringle tube.

 

I do find the Pringle chip with the picnic tablecloth and squeeze ketchup on his back interesting. I don't really understand if it is trying to be an anthropomorphic chip or a table or what.

Ok, I really liked this variety of Pringle. I admit it! While not something I really thought to be in the flavor profiles I seek, I seem to really like the tomato flavored potato snacks like Marukyo French Fries. I finished the entire tube with my husband in a few minutes.

Would I buy it again? Maybe. I really enjoyed it but there are SO many cool flavors of Japanese chips like seaweed and squid!

Bourbon Choco Anpan

Today I tried another Bourbon product- Choco Anpan! I've reviewed two Bourbon products in the past- chili crackers and Petit cakes. Despite being very different products, my verdict was the same- almost good but lacking a little something. I don't know why I keep picking up their products- hope, perhaps?

("soft chocolate inside bread!")

The box is very tempting...Mr. Bourbon Chef looks like he knows exactly what he's doing. Apparently there's both calcium AND Vitamin D in this treat- how exciting and healthful!

 

The interior packaging is cute..including Mr. Bourbon Chef and the company name in katakana.

 

The little "buns" really do look like their actual counterparts! The browning on the top and sesame seeds look fairly realistic.

 

The actual treat? The same exact feeling as the other products! (what did I expect?). The bun was softer than expected but in a soggy way. I was hoping for a bit of crunch. The chocolate was chocolate, rather unremarkable. I have to apologize for my insistence on this brand...reviews of mediocre food are boring!

Morinaga Dars Bitter Chocolate

おはようございます！

I am back from an excellent excursion on Disney Cruise Line's Dream ship. The only way to console myself on the fact I'm back at work in a Japanese treat! I was able to stop my Mitsuwa on the way back from an NYC day trip last weekend and picked up this Dars chocolate bar.

I love dark chocolate. Unless there is an interesting flavor like salted caramel in a milk chocolate or white chocolate bar, I never pick up anything but dark for personal enjoyment. I've always seen interesting dark chocolate bars in Mitsuwa but they tend to be pricey. Even this little package was $1.99! Then again Hershey candy bars are over a $1 in most places. I remember they used to be 2/$1 at nearly every pharmacy!

The packaging is very mature looking with black being the prominent color and not too much in the way of decoration. There is not really even any product description aside from "bitter chocolate". I really appreciate the way the box opens! This is probably why it's $1.99 versus the little thin sleeve Hershey bars come in.

 

The great packaging continues inside the inner wrapping. The little chocolate pieces are actually on a cardboard tray! I know I've said it a ton of times but the attention to detail in the physical packaging of Japanese treats is incredible. The chocolates themselves are not attached but small individual bricks with Dars stamped on them.

I like Morinaga products, though in the past I've mostly had their chewy fruit flavored candies. Trying their chocolate for the first time was exciting and did not disappoint. The chocolate is very smooth and on the lighter end of dark chocolate. It was a little bitter but slightly sweeter than Hershey's Special Dark. I felt it was a good solid quality dark chocolate and while nothing particularly special, I would pick it up again.